Neither Fish nor Fowl: A Role Theory Approach to Librarians Teaching

ABSTRACT

The teaching of IL primarily to undergraduate students in course-integrated, credit-bearing, or other hybrid settings has afforded academic librarians the opportunity to redefine their role within higher education, moving from a jurisdiction of access to one of expertise. While some academic librarians have viewed these shifting roles as a further strain upon an already heterogeneous profession, others have viewed teaching as an opportunity for academic librarians to be more engaged in teaching and learning, and more closely aligned with their classroom faculty counterparts. This article seeks to utilize Role Theory as a means to examine the dynamics of librarians as instructors, and information literacy as an academic discipline.

KEYWORDS:

• academic librarians
• information literacy
• role theory
• classroom faculty
• information technology